


Akatsuki: Apologies and Acceptance

by Kalira



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki - Freeform, Apologies, Fear, Hatake Sakumo/Orochimaru (mentioned), Hurt/Comfort, KakaYama Week 2020, Love, Loyalty, M/M, Missing-Nin, Mokuton Experiments (mentioned), Orochimaru is Kakashi's Mama, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24123031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Ordered to go after one of their own who has abandoned Konoha, Kakashi and Tenzou give chase all the way to the Akatsuki. While Itachi's own reasons - for running, for staying - remain a mystery, there prove to be . . . other reasons.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Comments: 12
Kudos: 109
Collections: Kalira's KakaYama Week Stories (2020)





	Akatsuki: Apologies and Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [KakaYama Week](https://kakayamaweek2020.tumblr.com/post/190752626837/we-are-happy-to-announce-kakayama-week-2020-the), Day 5: Akatsuki
> 
> This is one prompt for the event I _really_ expected I would be skipping . . . yet inspiration struck, and I worked this out from some parts of things contemplated in other threads yet awaiting my attention to write, combined and remixed, with a healthy dash of headcanons. . .

“Are you all right, kitten?” Kakashi asked quietly, stroking Tenzou’s face - free, for once, of his happuri.

Tenzou shivered a little and leaned into the touch, the taut lines across his shoulders easing, if only slightly. He nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine. It’s only. . .” He looked around, and though the little room they were in was not much of an exemplar of the Akatsuki base, Kakashi took his point. “How could Itachi choose to abandon Konoha for . . . _this_?”

“Perhaps he was swayed by Tobi’s . . . persuasion.” Kakashi said evenly, and Tenzou gave him a hilariously dubious look. Kakashi giggled, dipping his head to nuzzle Tenzou’s cheek affectionately. Tobi was, perhaps, a new contender for making the _least_ convincing speeches to which Kakashi had ever been subjected.

Kakashi did not, as it happened, have any more serious answer for Tenzou’s question - he, too, wondered what could have swayed Itachi, who he remembered vaguely as a quiet, determined kohai, though not one he had much to do with, despite their dubious connection of both having been brought into ANBU very young. Too young.

If under very different circumstances; Itachi had been pushed to be the best and the most deadly, to get better and stronger and faster, to take on the weight of an adult ninja, while Kakashi had been kept close by his sensei, who had both needed him and wanted to _protect_ him. At least . . . until Minato had been gone, and the Sandaime returned to his place, and made his own requirements of Kakashi. Then things had changed.

“Hello.”

Kakashi stiffened, the low voice spiking through his memory like a painful bloom of frost. He spun, vaguely aware of Tenzou moaning softly behind him, suddenly tense and trembling, of Tenzou’s fingers curling into his shirt low at his back.

Orochimaru looked them over as he stepped through the door and closed it. “Welcome. I didn’t expect _ever_ to see you here.” he added, mouth tugged into a slight frown.

“I- You-” Kakashi’s memories tangled and his stomach knotted. “You’re here.”

“For the moment.” Orochimaru shrugged fluidly, blinking slowly and moving towards them. Tenzou’s grip tightened, his knuckles brushing Kakashi’s back. “It is . . . a place to be. There are good points. It is _not_ Konoha, for one.”

“Konoha is home.” Kakashi said faintly, because he was rather suddenly remembering a good number of things about his _home_ that made him feel sick.

“Pack is home.” Orochimaru countered swiftly and his father’s words on his mother’s tongue broke Kakashi with a sudden, lashing pain of memory rushing over him.

He crumpled, Tenzou’s grip the only thing to keep him on his feet, and a moment later Orochimaru was there, holding him up, pulling him into a warm embrace that was both familiar and not.

“Kakashi-senpai?” Tenzou’s voice was wavery and held an edge of panic that probably meant there was far more distress hidden beneath, but Kakashi couldn’t quite pull himself together enough to offer comfort.

“ _Mother?_ ” Kakashi tried faintly.

Tenzou made a keening noise.

“I was not sure I would ever see you again _anywhere_ , cubling.” Orochimaru said softly, resting his head against Kakashi’s. Kakashi’s breath caught, eyes prickling with tears. Orochimaru’s warm golden eyes glinted damply as well. “I have missed you _so much_.”

“Mama, I didn’t think- I didn’t _remember_. . .”

“My little vipercub.” Orochimaru murmured, and _that_ was familiar, too, a whispery thread in his memories. Orochimaru laughed softly. “A viperwolf, now, all grown, aren’t you?”

Kakashi sniffed as he lifted his head, and suddenly realised Tenzou was still trembling behind him. He pulled away from his mother and wound an arm around Tenzou, crooning soothingly. “I’m sorry.” he managed, glancing back at Orochimaru. “It’s all right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . alarm you.” _To frighten you_ , Kakashi thought, but wouldn’t say when Tenzou was so uneasy and they weren’t alone.

“Orochimaru-san.” Tenzou said, eyes darting to Kakashi’s face, then back to Orochimaru.

Kakashi nuzzled him soothingly and was pleased when he calmed a tiny bit. He winced, knowing exactly _why_ Tenzou was so alarmed by Orochimaru’s presence. “Is my mother.” he said gently, and Tenzou’s eyes widened even more. “I. . . I’d forgotten a great many things, after so long without speaking of them. With. . . With no one speaking of them, or _to_ speak of them.” Kakashi’s memory wasn’t the only one which Orochimaru had faded out of . . . though perhaps many others had purposely ensured it.

Tenzou nodded understanding, or something like, and clung to him a little harder.

Kakashi explained, haltingly, and Orochimaru spoke of his reasons to be with the Akatsuki - Kakashi had no doubt he hadn’t shared everything, but believed what he _had_ offered - carefully not pressing. He stayed back from Tenzou, though he touched Kakashi often, when he could, and drew Kakashi into a long, tight embrace before he finally left them alone.

“He _knows_. He knows why we’re here.” Tenzou said once he was gone. “He’ll-”

“He won’t tell the others.” Kakashi said confidently. Tenzou eyed him with mingled worry and hope, and Kakashi tugged him down to the couch, curling around him. Kakashi wasn’t sure Orochimaru would have told the others _regardless_ , he seemed very much not to care about them and their goal, but with it being Kakashi here? “He won’t. He very well might not have bothered anyway, but he wants _me_ close; you can trust in that, at least. Self-interest, mm?”

Tenzou looked unhappy, but nodded. Kakashi nuzzled his cheek and hummed soothingly, stroking Tenzou’s back.

“We’re staying . . . aren’t we?” Tenzou asked softly some time later, and Kakashi startled. He paused, and Tenzou stroked up and down his side lightly, not looking him in the face.

“For. . . For a while, at least.” Kakashi said, his heart throbbing. His _mother_. . .

“We’re staying. Aren’t we?” Tenzou said again, and Kakashi looked up to find Tenzou’s eyes were intent on his face now.

“I don’t know.” Kakashi said softly, and Tenzou nodded, hugging him tight. Kakashi nuzzled into him, arms working under him to return the embrace. “You,” he kept his voice steady though it wanted to falter, “can go back. I’ll make sure-”

Kakashi broke off as Tenzou squeezed him hard, angling his head to look his lover in the face again.

“I am staying for as long as you do.” Tenzou said firmly, and Kakashi’s heart throbbed once more. He nuzzled Tenzou’s cheek, barely breathing his endearments. “If you never return to Konoha, then we never go back.” he said firmly, and Kakashi held him tight.

“Oh. Tenzou. . .” Kakashi swallowed.

“Don’t try to persuade me otherwise.” Tenzou said, his voice just a little wobbly, one hand coming up to stroke through Kakashi’s hair. “I am staying with you, senpai.”

“I love you.” Kakashi said, pressing their cheeks together.

“And I love you.” Tenzou returned, steadier and softer. “It isn’t the only reason I will stay. But I do.”

“My kitten.” Kakashi said gently, ruffling Tenzou’s hair, fingers running through it down to pet lightly at the nape of his neck.

* * *

Tenzou tensed as the door opened, as he did every time when Kakashi was not at his side. He was strong enough not to _need_ to hide behind Kakashi, but. . .

Well, he was reassuring, regardless. And Tenzou may have been swayed into staying, all of his own accord - mostly because he refused to leave Kakashi - but thought he would _never_ feel safe here without someone watching his back.

. . .and one reason for that feeling stepped gracefully into the room as he watched, eyes widening.

“Tenzou-kun, I find I need to speak with you . . . if you would permit.” Orochimaru said smoothly, waiting by the door.

Tenzou wondered if he would, truly, go away if Tenzou refused him. Not that he could quite find the words to do so. He nodded shallowly instead.

“My son has pointed out - reminded me - that I owe you an apology.” Orochimaru said, and Tenzou blinked, shocked. Orochimaru smiled slightly, closing the door. “And I _am_ sorry, for what became of you. For what you suffered.”

Tenzou stiffened, memories of Danzou’s railing against this man returning to him, but-

But Danzou had hardly been a kindness either, Tenzou thought, and shuddered, memories turning to finding - being found by - Kakashi, being shown another path and invited into warmth and care. In many ways Danzou had been the worst part of Tenzou’s life.

Though _this_ man was responsible for much of it.

“I protested the orders, but perhaps I should indeed have done more. Kakashi is not wrong to be displeased with me, and I cannot contradict your hatred of me either.” Orochimaru said, and Tenzou was a little shocked.

Not least because. . . Well. Tenzou knew Kakashi was . . . revelling, in his own quiet, pained way, in having his mother back again. He couldn’t resent that, and wouldn’t protest it, ever, no matter his own feelings about Orochimaru. He was surprised that Kakashi would bring _him_ and his past into that renewed relationship, much less to express unhappiness to Orochimaru about his actions.

But most because. . . “Orders?” Tenzou questioned.

Orochimaru’s eyes flicked to his, sharp and assessing. “You have no reason to trust my word.” he allowed.

Tenzou considered this. “I don’t.” he agreed. “You’re a ninja, and a very good one, and you’ve betrayed your - our - village.”

Orochimaru’s expression tightened, but he inclined his head.

“But you’re my Kakashi-senpai’s mother. And you’re here, you’re talking to me at all, because of him.” Tenzou ventured cautiously. Orochimaru’s eyes weren’t sharp, at least, though he was focused unblinkingly on Tenzou and it was . . . unsettling. “If you. . . I will . . . hear you out. I’ll believe you, because of him.”

Orochimaru’s expression _softened_. Tenzou had seen it happen a few times now, always centred on Kakashi, but it shocked him every time. “I appreciate that for the gift it is.” Orochimaru said quietly. “I will not lie. I was given the orders for the experiments that created you as I was given the orders for many others. From the Sandaime, from Danzou, from both.”

Sandaime. . .

Tenzou had been given orders he didn’t like, or that sickened him, from Danzou and more, distressingly, once he had been brought out of Root and allowed to remain with Kakashi in ANBU under the Hokage’s command. It was too easy to make the connection to Orochimaru’s words. He swallowed.

“It was an attempt to strengthen Konoha,” Orochimaru said flatly, and Tenzou struggled to breathe evenly, “when it was clear that it was not working correctly I argued the parameters should be changed or the experiment abandoned entirely. I was overruled and I left it at that; perhaps I should have done more.”

“Not working?” Tenzou repeated thinly, barely voicing the words.

“Did you think children dying was the _intended_ result?” Orochimaru almost spat, and for half a moment Tenzou could _see_ that he was truly Kakashi’s mother; he didn’t flinch, for once. Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed and flashed with fury in exactly the way Kakashi’s did, and the angle of his shoulders as they tensed. . . Orochimaru’s anger was not only clear, it was familiar, if with a new face.

“I don’t know if I will ever forgive you.” Tenzou said, and Orochimaru’s expression smoothed out again as he nodded acceptance. “But,” he paused, thinking over the orders he had carried out in the past, the difference between the philosophy he had clung to - offered from Kakashi’s open hands - and the way things had been in truth in the village to which he had offered his loyalty, “I do believe you.”

Orochimaru sighed. “That is more than I could have asked.” he said simply.

“Kakashi loves you.” Tenzou said awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s most of why we’re here.”

“He loves you. And you love him. Or you would not be here.” Orochimaru said softly.

Tenzou squirmed. “. . .Kakashi is more important to me than anyone else.” he admitted. “I don’t like being a nuke-nin, I don’t like. . . But Kakashi. . .”

But Kakashi held his loyalty, not only his heart. Kakashi was the one who had protected him, had offered him warmth and home and . . . his own choices. The first ever to do so, and Kakashi had _fought_ to give that to him. Again and again. Tenzou could not face returning without him, and if that meant remaining here, regardless of the insanity of the Akatsuki, then Tenzou would.

“It is reasoning his father would have used.” Orochimaru said, startling Tenzou.

“. . .his?” Tenzou asked tentatively.

Orochimaru smiled. “Yours. Sakumo,” his voice wavered and pain flashed through his eyes, a flicker almost too fast to see, “was most devoted, always, to his pack. To me, to Kakashi. He was a loyal Konoha ninja,” he said with a faint, bitter smile, “but he placed us, always, above that.”

Tenzou shifted, surprised and . . . perhaps a little pleased, to have been compared to Kakashi’s father. “Kakashi does too. He’s here.”

“Kakashi feels betrayed by his village,” Orochimaru’s lip curled, “and he _wants_ something which can be offered here. He wants. . .”

“He wants his mother.” Tenzou said wryly.

“It is not entirely his father’s heart that guides him. But he has always been surprisingly like and unlike us both.” Orochimaru said with a fluid shrug.

“What,” Tenzou asked suddenly, “would you do if he chose to return?”

Orochimaru flinched. “I would regret it fiercely. I would miss him . . . as I have missed him for fifteen years.”

Tenzou nodded, and the door opened behind Orochimaru before he could say anything more. Orochimaru turned as Kakashi stepped through.

“Kitten, have you- Mama!” Kakashi looked startled, and he crossed quickly to Tenzou. “Are you all right?” he asked, smoothing a hand over Tenzou’s shoulder as his heart ached. One of the reasons why Tenzou had remained here, why Tenzou had been so devoted to Kakashi - one of the reasons why Tenzou had fallen in love. Kakashi loved his mother, trusted Orochimaru to a degree Tenzou couldn’t _fathom_ . . . but he knew Tenzou did not, and put him first. Immediately and without question.

“I’m fine. We were . . . talking about some things.” Tenzou said softly, then glanced at Orochimaru, who still waited where he had stood as they spoke. “. . .he apologised. And explained a few things to me.”

Kakashi smiled, looking at his mother.

“I shall leave you.” Orochimaru said, tilting his head to one side, and turned away, his cloak flaring a little, the crimson clouds billowing.

“Thank you. Orochimaru-san.” Tenzou said before he could step out the door.

He looked back and smiled slightly, but didn’t say anything else.

Tenzou realised with a thrill of shock as the door closed that he trusted _Orochimaru_ further than any other member of the Akatsuki. He shuddered, pressing into Kakashi, who offered concern and questions, nuzzling him and crooning.

Tenzou smiled and hugged him, resting their brows together and gently brushing off his worry. It was not, he supposed, as though he were terribly used to trusting many people in any case, even in his home village. These people were merely . . . further down that scale.

He would stay, for so long as Kakashi chose to remain here, even if that meant they _never_ left. Even if that meant donning one of the red cloud cloaks himself, in the end. He nuzzled Kakashi’s cheek affectionately and tightened his embrace as Kakashi crooned again.


End file.
